Monday, January 6, 2014

When Unclothed Is Unfitting: Thoughts on Selling with Sex

by John Piper

Jonathan Edwards once said that godly people can, as it
were, smell the depravity of an act before they can explain why it evil. There
is a spiritual sense that something is amiss. It does not fit in a world
permeated with God.

Ephesians 5:3 says that some things "are not
fitting" among saints." "Fitting-ness" is not always easy
to justify with arguments. You discern it before you can defend it. That's
good, because we have to make hundreds of choices every day with no time for extended
reflection.

But from time to time we need to pause and give rational,
biblical expression why something is not fitting. Some years ago I came to that
point when, week after week, a local newspaper put scantily clad women on the
second page of Section A in order to sell underclothes. I wrote a letter to the
paper with nine reasons why they should stop using this kind of advertising.

Perhaps my reflections will help you deal with the hundreds
of abuses of God's good gift of sexuality in our culture. Here is what I wrote.

As a 14-year subscriber and reader of the [name of paper
omitted], I am writing to express the persuasion that your sexually explicit
ads that often turn up in Section A are increasingly offensive and socially
irresponsible. I mean that the effectiveness of catching people's attention by
picturing a woman in her underclothes does not justify the ads. The detrimental
effects of such mercenary misuse of the female body are not insignificant. The
harm I have in mind is described in the following nine persuasions.

1. This woman could not go out in public dressed like that
without being shamed or being mentally aberrant. Yet you thrust her out, even
in front of those of us who feel shame for her.

2. This portrayal of a woman sitting in her underclothes at
a table with a cup of tea disposes men to think of women not as persons but
mainly in terms of their bodies. It stimulates young boys to dwell on unclothed
women's bodies and thus lames their ability to deal with women as dignified
persons. I have four sons.

3. The ad stimulates sexual desire which in thousands of men
has no legitimate or wholesome outlet through marriage. In other words, it
feeds a corporate, community lust that bears no good fruit outside marriage,
but in fact many ills.

4. The ad makes sensibilities callous so that fewer and
fewer offenses against good taste feel unacceptable, which spells the collapse
of precious and delicate aspects of personhood and relationships.

5. The ad makes thousands of women subconsciously measure
their attractiveness and worth by the standard of rarefied, unrealistic models,
leading to an unhealthy and discouraging preoccupation with outward looks.

6. The ad feeds the prurient fantasies of ordinary men,
lodging a sexual image in their minds for the day which can rob them of the
ability to think about things greater and nobler than skin.

7. The ad condones the proclivity of males to mentally
unclothe women by reminding them what they would see if they did, and by
suggesting that there are women who want to be publicly unclothed in this way.
This reminder and this suggestion support habits and stereotypes that weaken
personal virtue and jeopardize decorous relationships.

8. The ad encourages young girls to put excessive focus on
their bodies and how they will be looked at, adding to the epidemic of
depression and eating disorders.

9. The ad contributes to dissatisfaction in men whose wives
can't produce that body and thus adds to the instability of marriages and
homes.

I realize that the bottom line is big bucks for page two,
and lots of attention for [name of department store omitted]. But please know
that at least one assessment of your standards of fitness for print is that it
is part of a tragic loss of modesty and decency that may, for now, feel like
mature liberation, but in generations to come will reap a whirlwind of misery
for all of us.

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About Me

Doug Nichols and his wife Margaret have served in missions for nearly 47 years of which 20 years were in the Philippines. They presently reside in Issaquah, Washington, where Doug serves as
Global Missions Advocate/Mobilizer assisting with Global Diaspora Network, Filipino International Network, Christian Growth Ministries in the Philippines, advocate for needy children, and in leadership development. Doug travels extensively throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin and North America speaking on behalf of the glory of God in missions. Margaret travels in ministry with Doug is involved in speaking, teaching and discipling.